Fluff mill

Abstract

A fluff producing mill for converting a pulp material into an absorbent fluff product by the operation of a hammer rotor having multiple overlapping hammer clusters which describe a hammer tip circle, and a pulp material feeder positioned to present the pulp material radially into the hammer rotor between a breaker bar and a cooperating guide plate, the feeder supporting the breaker bar so it can be adjusted toward and away from the hammer tip circle to accommodate hammer clearance at the breaker bar.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A fluff mill for converting sheet material into a fluff product, said sheet material having a predetermined thickness and width, and said fluff mill comprising: (a) a casing defining a chamber in which the fluff product is produced;   (b) sheet material feeding means connected to said casing, said feeding means having a breaker bar formed with slots and with a sheet material supporting end presented to the interior of said casing, said breaker bar supporting the sheet material across its predetermined width, said feeding means having a sheet material guide plate spaced from said breaker bar a distance to accommodate the thickness of the sheet material and formed with slots therein;   (c) sheet material feed rolls carried by said feeding means in position to project through said slots in said breaker bar and in said guide plate for engaging and feeding the sheet material;   (d) a rotor assembly operatively mounted in said casing, said rotor assembly having hammer elements mounted thereon such that they present outer tips which define a tip circle and said hammer elements having the outer tips arranged in overlapping positions to impact the sheet material across its entire predetermined width; and   (e) breaker bar adjusting means carried by said sheet material feeding means in position to engage and adjust the position of said breaker bar end selectively relative to said hammer tip circle to obtain an operating gap spacing between the hammer tip circle and said breaker bar end to control the reduction of the sheet material into the fluff product, said breaker bar adjustment being effective by said slots therein accommodating said feed rolls.   
     
     
       2. The fluff mill set forth in claim 1 wherein a plurality of breaker plates are mounted within said casing in positions embracing said rotor assembly outside said hammer tip circle, a first one of said breaker plates is positioned with and end portion adjacent said breaker bar, and other of said breaker plates are positioned beyond said breaker bar in relation to the direction of rotation of said rotor assembly, said others of said breaker plates defining surfaces that form with said tip circle an elongated V-shaped region widest adjacent said breaker bar and progressively narrowing on approaching the hammer tip circle spaced from said breaker bar in the direction of rotation of said rotor assembly. 
     
     
       3. In a fluff mill having a casing and a rotor assembly operatively mounted in said casing with material impact hammers operably mounted on said rotor assembly, the hammer tips traversing a hammer circle of a predetermined diameter, the improvement comprising: (a) sheet material feeder device mounted on said casing and including: (1) a breaker bar having a leading edge extending into the interior of said casing and presented toward said hammer circle, and a guide plate spaced from said breaker bar to provide a space opening into said casing close to said hammer circle and between said breaker bar and said guide plate for reception of material to be impacted by said rotor hammers,   (2) roller means in said feeder device projecting through said breaker bar and into said material reception space,   (3) material pinch rolls projecting through said guide plate and into said material reception space and positioned to cooperate with said roller means such that the material is engaged by and between said roller means and pinch rolls; and     (b) drive input means operatively engaged with said roller means and with said pinch rolls for advancing material engaged therebetween into the hammer circle in said casing beyond said breaker bar to be impacted by the impact hammers.   
     
     
       4. In a fluff mill having a casing in which sheet material is converted into a fluff product, the improvement in the mill comprising: (a) a rotor assembly including; (1) an axially elongated drive shaft operable in the casing,   (2) a first group of discs on said shaft formed with radially projecting lobes positioned in circumferentially spaced relation around the drive shaft,   (3) a second group of discs on said shaft formed with radially projecting lobes positioned in circumferentially spaced relation around the drive shaft,   (4) spacer means on said drive shaft disposed between said first and second groups of discs and said groups of discs have the respective lobes arranged in axially interleaved relation along the axis of said drive shaft,   (5) pivot rods carried by the respective lobes on said first and second groups of discs; and     (b) multiple hammer clusters mounted on each of said pivot rods, with the hammer clusters carried between said first group of discs being axially offset and in overlapping relation to the hammer clusters carried between said second group of discs such that said hammer clusters present in ninety degrees of rotation of said drive shaft a continuous and uninterrupted array of hammers along the drive shaft axis with no gaps between the hammer clusters during the rotation thereof.   
     
     
       5. In a fluff producing hammer mill fed with material to be processed into a fluff product, the combination comprising: (a) a casing defining a chamber in which the material is transformed into a fluff product;   (b) an axially elongated rotor assembly operably mounted in said casing chamber and including hammer means arranged along the axis of said rotor assembly to present a continuous and unbroken array of tip portions of said hammer means moving in a predetermined tip circle, said unbroken array of tip portions being formed in axially overlapping positions along said axial length of said rotor assembly;   (c) material feed means connected to said casing in position to direct material into said casing chamber within reach of said hammer tips moving in said predetermined tip circle, said feed means having a slotted breaker bar and an adjacent slotted material guide plate forming a space therebetween for directing the material into said hammer predetermined tip circle, and said breaker bar having a tip end projecting into said casing for supporting the material adjacent said predetermined tip circle; and   (d) operable means in said material feed means for effecting adjustment of the position of said breaker bar to locate said breaker bar tip end in said casing relative to said predetermined tip circle for supporting the material as it is fed into the path of said predetermined tip circle for impact by said hammer tips, said operable means including material engaging feed rolls extending through said slotted breaker bar to accommodate adjustment of said breaker bar.   
     
     
       6. In a fluff producing hammer mill as set forth in the combination of claim 5 wherein said breaker bar adjustment means is operable for permitting breaker bar adjustments concurrently with operation of said rotor assembly to obtain a predetermined operating relationship between said breaker bar tip end and said predetermined tip circle. 
     
     
       7. In a fluff mill having a casing in which material is converted into a fluff product, the improvement comprising: (a) a rotor assembly including; (1) a drive shaft rotationally operable in the casing,   (2) a plurality of discs carried by said drive shaft, each of said discs being formed with circumferentially spaced lobes projecting radially outwardly and provided with apertures,   (3) spacer means on said drive shaft separating said plurality of discs axially along said drive shaft, and said discs being rotationally oriented on said drive shaft whereby alternate discs are rotated so said lobes thereon align in groups and have the apertures therein in axial alignment, and   (4) rod elements mounted through said axially aligned apertures of said alternate disc groups, said rod elements between lobes being in circumferential alignment with alternate ones of said disc lobes; and     (b) hammer elements mounted on said rod elements extending between aligned lobe apertures for pivotal swinging movement such that said hammer elements are axially staggered to provide a continuous and uninterrupted presence of hammers along the axis of the drive shaft upon rotation of said drive shaft.